Before The War There Was Ninety-Nine Red Balloons
by RedPoppyEnkai
Summary: The two-leg place is much more fierce than any cat could every have imagined. Fawnkit is unluckly enough to come up close and personal with it. Life is a cruel thing, and learning to live under Scourge's Rules and the complex culture of the BloodClan cats will not prove easy. It is possible though, and Fawn is ready to prove just how powerful one's will can be.


Before The War There Was Ninety-Nine Red Balloons

This is my new story. Chapter one of Fawnkit's adventure. It came to me in a blast of inspiration, and turned out fairly well if I do say so myself. This is based off the fact that it's implied that four of Frostfur's kits were taken by Brokenstar. I know that the other two were probably Brightheart and Thornclaw. But what if they weren't? The two never came back, so what happened too them? I've planned out to about fifteen chapters of this, but the next few are only partial written. It'll continue this if people genuinely like it. If there is any grammar errors or glaring messing ups or general advice to improve this please put it down for me, this story is to help improve my writing. Criticism is highly welcome. Well, as long as it's polite and thought out. Heh, hopefully this isn't a bust.

Please enjoy.

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><p>Chapter One<p>

The Worst of the Two Evils

"Under here! Quick!" Brackenkit squeaked, his eyes wide and his fur fluffed in fear. All of their eyes were wide and fur fluffed.

The four kits squeezed into a small dip in the ground, just missing a scuffle that sent a scatter of leaves and twigs all over them. Maplekit yipped and went to shake his head, intending to rid a twig out of his ear, but Cinderkit stopped him.

"Don't!" She told him. "It hides us better."

They trembled as cats screeched around them. Claws clashing with claws as fur flew and dust stirred under the Warriors' paws. This was awful, scary and bloody and loud. They were fighting over them, for her and her sibling, Fawnkit knew that. That's why they were doing this. This battle. This spilt blood. But couldn't they just have snuck in and rescued them? Did they really need to fight? Was it necessary to kill cats over her? She didn't like that thought. It made her feel guilty. That the blood on the ground was her fault, every drop. It reminded her of Spottedleaf. Her pretty fur matted with blood and her eyes all hazy with death.

Two wrongs didn't make a right. Her mother had told her that, so why was ThunderClan killing just because one of their cats got killed? Was that right? Fawnkit was sure that that was against the Warrior Code.

She just wanted it all to stop! The noise, the blood, the everything! She covered her head with her paws and whimpered as she pressed close to Brackenkit and Maplekit.

The world turned and shook. Fawnkit screamed in surprise as their hiding place suddenly upturned and all four kits rattled out, sprawling across the muddy ground. Her scream morphed into a higher pitched yip of horror as she came face to face, nose to nose, whisker to whisker, with a brown tom. The same tom that had gotten into the Nursery! The same cat that had killed Spottedleaf!

He was panting and his breath was hot in her face, smelling of blood and crow-food. She was frozen, staring, his wide yellow eyes taking up all of her vision. Everything whirled again, the forest, the camp, the colored pelts of fighting cats, they all spun as she was swung around and shook like a piece of bedding moss. Her eyes rattled in her head. She was in the air.

"Let her go, you mangy piece of fox-dung!" Things narrowed back into focus. Brackenkit was snarling, jumping at the brown tom, barely getting up to the height of his flank, catching kitten claws into his scroungy fur.

Maplekit was gone.

Cinderkit was... her sister was suddenly hit, a hard cuff to the face that knocked her back into their hiddy-hole. A tom. A white tom with dirty paws. A white tom with dirty paws had hit her. A white tom with dirty paws had hit her and was carrying Maplekit between his teeth.

"Cinderkit!" Fawnkit slurred out her yowl, but her voice was cut when the forest became the sky and the sky became the trees. Her head throbbed, her scruff burned, her ears filled with cotton. The tom had shook her.

"Quiet kit!" He demanded. Fawnkit blinked heavy eyes into a blurred world. She realized that the brown tom wasn't talking to her. She felt his lips lift in a limited snarl. She felt him lurch forward as he clawed outward. She felt herself jostle again, dangling limp from his lips like a dead mouse, but above all of that she heard her brother's cry of pain.

Brackenkit? Brackenkit?! Where was he? Was he okay? Fawnkit pulled unsteady breathes into her chest as she looked around. The tabby kit was right in front of her, scuffed up. Had he rolled? He's ear was cut. Did the brown tom hit him? Her brother stood in front of her sister, protective. Cinderkit wasn't moving. Was she dead? Maplekit wasn't with his siblings. Was he dead too?

A sudden jerk sent Fawnkit reeling back into a mess of perplexity. Another jerk and the white tom with dirty paws in front of her, then he wasn't. The brown tom's lips were moving behind her.

Then she was shaking violently. Shake, shake, shake. Lift up, slam down. Lift up, slam down. Fawnkit bounced, bobbing like driftwood in a storm. She choked on her own tongue, her stomach turned violently, air couldn't get past her chattering teeth. Her sight was gone, reduced to a smear of browns and greens. There was loud buzzing sounds in her ears, but she couldn't find the bees. The bees must have built nests inside her ears because she couldn't hear anything over them. The tom was running.

It stopped. Some of it stopped. The tom wasn't running now, she could feel his pants, warm air over the fur on her back. Her eyes were heavy again, but the bleariness was getting better, things focusing back in. The brown tom had stopped in a small group of other cats.

She was dropped. She landed on her side. Her vision bounced one last time with the fall, but finally everything cleared to a clean view. The cats were talking over her, but her brain was still full of bees. Slowly, one by one, those bees started to fly out of her ears and she could hear what the group was talking about. Something-something broken.

Movement caught Fawnkit's eye and she turned to look. Maplekit! Maplekit was okay. The wash of relief was short-lived when the mutters of dappling leaves became the voices of cats.

"... kits?" A dark ginger tabby was talking.

"We were only able to get two out of the mess. They sure were squirmy, little things." The white tom that took Maplekit was standing just behind her brother. She realized that his paws weren't dirty, they were black. He sneered down at Maplekit, who stood proud, legs locked and head high; proud like a Warrior.

Gritting sore teeth, Fawnkit twisted and climbed to her paws. Maplekit was so brave, she couldn't let her brother down, couldn't let herself down. The tiny kit's fur was already fluffed, filled with dust and small sticks, she could feel a drop of blood run from her scruff onto the side of her neck. She lifted her head too and hoped she looked fierce.

Her efforts were meant with laughter. A paw hit her from behind and she reeled to the side, balance held in place by sheer will, that and a good dose of luck.

"Sure are fearsome, huh?" The brown tom that killed Spottedleaf was talking, the few whiskers he had twitched with amusement as he leaned down to mock her. Fawnkit puffed up with a hissed and clawed his nose.

The tom reeled back with a yelp of his own, but it only lasted a second. Yellow eyes fixed back on her, set in a face made of nothing but a glare and snarl.

"Now that's enough." A dark brown tabby rested his tail over the brown tom, stopping what Fawnkit was sure would have been a very short, very violent beating. "Our intentions aren't to _kill_ them."

"Then what are we going to do with them? Train them?" The white tom meowed, his voice scornful.

"No, mouse-brain, they're close to four moons old." The dark red tabby, the only she-cat, snorted. "Don't you think that ThunderClan is still a _little_ fresh in their minds?"

"We could still train them." The white tom hissed back at her. "They're strong kits, daring and courageous. Look what the she-kit did to Clawface's nose. They'll be great Warriors."

"While I like the idea, that might be the reason why we can't train them." A thoughtful voice spoke out of a gray, silver-striped tabby.

Fawnkit hissed, backing up until she felt the the spiked fur of her brother at her side. She opened her mouth, a declaration of defiance on her tongue, but she closed it soundlessly. Her brother pressed against her, tight. She could feel a thorn caught in his pelt, digging into the both of them.

"What do you think, Brokenstar?" The gray cat asked.

All the attention shifted towards a massive dark brown tabby, the same one that had stopped that tom, Clawface they called him, from attacking her. A leader? Broken... Fawnkit looked over that tabby, trying to find what was 'broken' about him. Her conclusion was his tail, it had a sharp bend right in the middle of it. She ran her eyes from his tail to his long matted fur and scarred body, fresh scratches littered his flanks and a deep bite bled from his shoulder. ThunderClan had really tor into their flea-bitten pelts.

The tabby's dark amber eyes narrowed, one ear flicked. Fawnkit held her breath.

"We'll train them. That was our plan when I sent Clawface to steal them from ThunderClan. I see no reason to change that now. Blackfoot you'll mentor the little tabby. Boulder you take the she-cat" Brokenstar announced, not bothering to look at the cats he addressed. The five cats nodded to his word.

"No!" Maplekit suddenly erupted next to her. "I'll never turn my back on the Clans! I'll never learn from you!" Her brother ripped away from her, running off like a rabbit with a dog on its tail.

"Hey!" Blackfoot hissed, lunging after the runaway kit, only to collide with the dark ginger tabby as Maplekit raced right underneath their paws. A fearsome crack was heard as the two smacked heads. Fawnkit would have laughed if she hadn't been so scared.

"After it!" Brokenstar yowled. Clawface was first to give chase, then Blackfoot once he got his footing back.

Fawnkit, suddenly realizing her chance, turn and ran the in the opposite direction than her brother. She raced through the trees, over the packed mud, legs growing wings out of fear.

"Fox-dung!" She heard Brokenstar curse. "Go! Go!"

Then there was heavy pawsteps behind her. Fawnkit darted around a tree and suddenly she could see a two-leg path, packed hard with dirt, wide and straight, making a perfect run way, free of any tripping tree roots or face-smacking brambles. She ran towards it, then on it. Running with her head down gave her speed, but also blindness. She risked a look up, where was she running? She couldn't run forever! She needed something to- a thunderpath! The two-leg dirt trail lead right up to a thunderpath! That was it. That was her savior. Her pace faltered at the thought of what she was about to do, but only momentarily, the heavy paws and pants behind her leaving no time for indecision. She would have to do it. Do it blind. Race right across it. Without looking. Completely at the mercy of the monsters.

Fawnkit gulped and lowed her head as she panted and pumped her legs. They wouldn't follow her past the thunderpath. She was sure of it. Not even these rogues were that stupid. They would stop at the edge of it and check for monsters, like any sensible cat would do. Like any cat that wasn't running for their life would do.

Ready?

One. Her paws hurt.

Two. She sent a prayer to StarClan.

Three! She leaped. She wasn't sure why, she landed only a quarter of the way across the thunderpath, but she did, and when she landed she ran the last few fox-lengths before tumbling ears over tail on the other side of the thunderpath. She landed on her back, belly up as she gasped air. Even her lungs hurt after running that distance. At least now she was-

"Got you, you little weasel!" Fawnkit froze as the dark ginger tabby towered over her, yellow teeth barred in anger. She was panting, but her eyes shown with fire. Fawnkit was willing to bet that they hadn't liked her little racing game all that much.

The she-kit screeched as her side was clawed, flipping her onto her stomach. A big paw pressed between her shoulders, keeping her face pressed down on the hard, gray, two-leg ground.

"You got her, Russetfur?" The thin gray tabby from before finished crossing the thunderpath and stumbled up to them. So much for the theory that they would stop at the thunderpath.

"No thanks to you!" The red cat hissed. "You couldn't even keep up."

The silver tom glared. "Sorry, I must have missed the training lessons on how to run nonstop across the territories. For StarClan's sake, I can't get my breath back."

"Poor, little kitten." Russetfur mocked at him. She pressed down harder on Fawnkit, making her whimper. "You think we should break one of her legs? So she can't run anymore?"

"It might interfere with her training." He meowed.

"To StarClan with that! I didn't just run the length of the territories to peacefully carry the kit home." The red she-cat snarled. Fawnkit could feel her breath on the back of her neck, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain. Teeth closed over her ear.

Bracing for it didn't help. Fawnkit screamed as searing pain erupted at the side of her head, hot blood dripped down onto her whiskers and nose, across her chin and over her eyes. Russetfur spat out a piece of light brown fur right in front of Fawnkit's field of vision. Her ear. That was her ear. Her ear was gone.

Her ear was gone. Her ear was gone!

Fawnkit's screams echoed off the hard two-leg ground.

"Shhhhh! Shhhh! Shut up, kit!" The tom was trying to quiet her, his voice panicky. "Fox-dung! Russetfur why did you do that!" Fawnkit bubbled down into a constant stream of whimpers and yips of pain.

"What? What's wrong?" Russetfur asked, her voice was muffled, Fawnkit could barely hear her through the pain, let alone through her blood-filled, ruined ear.

"You can't be loud here. Do you remember where we're at?"

As if the silver tabby had called it forth himself, noises stirred around them. "What's going on here?" The paw on her back was gone immediately. Fawnkit dragged herself by her front legs, shaking blood out of her 'ear'. What was left of her ear. Her ear! Pure survival kicked in. For one last time, she caught just enough of a second wind to let her scramble out of Russetfur's reach. Panting, trembling, and out of immediate danger, Fawnkit looked to see the owner of the voice. What had frightened Russetfur enough to let her go?

A big dusky ginger tom jumped off the top of a tiny two-leg den. Fawnkit hadn't even known they were so close to a two-leg den. He padded forward, his pace nice and easy, as if he were taking a night stroll, not stepping into a hostile situation. The cat stopped a fox-length away from Russetfur and her friend. He stared steadily at the two cats. Russetfur bristled, glaring. The silver tom looked scared witless.

"What's going on here?" The cat repeated, his voice placating, as if talking to a kit.

"Nothing you need to know about." Russetfur growled, walking forward and reaching out to Fawnkit. The she-kit yipped and tried to lean away, sticking her paws out, but that just jostled her more. Her ear hurt. She was so tired.

"Stop." He spoke no louder then his previous speech, but the word carried a deep command. Russetfur froze, the tom whined in terror, he shifted from paw to paw, tense and ready to bolt. Fawnkit was uneasy. Why were they so scared? Were these cats _that_ dangerous?

Shadows started moving, shadows becoming figures, figures becoming cats. Russetfur whipped her head around violently, eyes wide as she backed up to the edge of the thunderpath. A dark gray and black-striped tabby jumped down from a fence, coming to stand at the ginger tom's side. A white and black cat appeared from the bushes, eyes glinting with a sick delight. A battle-scarred black cat formed out of nothing but shadows. More cats. Most of them stayed shadows, counted only by their eyes, covered in the shade of the flat, wooden walls and two-leg dens, but a number of them stood in the sunlight. Strong, keen, intimidating cats.

Fawnkit lifted her head as much as she dared, pain still shooting through her aching body, and stared at them with wide eyes. Rogues. Not Clan-banished cats like Brokenstar and Russetfur, but actual rogues. She tried to push herself to her paws, but only shivered in exhaustion. She w as sure she didn't have enough energy left to run again, but what could she do? How can she get away? The ginger tom looked at her, he had big amber eyes and a soft face. He reminded her of Lionheart, the thought came out of nowhere, and she relaxed a little at that. Then his eyes left her to look at the two not-ShadowClan cats.

"You shouldn't be on BloodClan territory." He went on, taking a step towards them, it put Fawnkit right under his chest, between his paws. She tried to inched away, crawling, but was efficiently blocked in. "You of all cats should know that, Blouder." She didn't know what to think about this. She didn't kn ow these cats, at least she knew what would happen with Russetfur and Brokenstar, but these new cats? She had no idea. The leader looked nice... But Brokenstar had also saved her from a beating. Boulder, that silver tabby, must know these cats, they did just call him by name, and if Boulder was so scared then shouldn't she be too? How much power was in these cats? Fawnkit again tried to stand on shaky legs. She had to choose the lesser of two evils, but who was the lesser evil? And it looked like she was losing her chance to choose, and fast. Russetfur and Boulder were going to run any second. She doubted these cats would let her go home, just like Brokenstar wouldn't have let her go home. She just wanted to go home.

"We were just getting the kit." Boulder explained quickly. "We'll just take her and leave right away."

The big cat looked thoughtful for a moment, before facing them with a deadpanned expression. "No. I don't think you will. Now get out."

"Wait a-" Russetfur began.

"Get out." He repeated, more sternly. Russetfur's ears flattened back, Boulder nudged her, trying to get her to go, but the red tabby held fast.

The ginger Leader sighed, then flicked his tail.

Immediately, three cats broke away from the group. Fawnkit had the pleasure of watching the ShadowClan cats' eyes widened with fear before they turned tail to flee, the 'BloodClan' cats pelting after them.

With Russetfur and Boulder gone, Fawnkit was reminded of her new danger. She cowered underneath the ginger tom. At least she knew that the other cats wouldn't have killed her, beat her up and take her ear, yes, but kill her? Fawnkit was sure they wouldn't, she had value to them. She knew nothing about these cat, or how they are going to treat her.

She held back a whimper. She wondered if Maplekit got away. He had been going towards ThunderClan territory, maybe he ran into a patrol and was saved. Maybe Clawface caught him. Fawnkit remember Spottedleaf and her bloodstained fur, then replaced her calico pelt with the golden tabby markings of her brother.

"Maplekit." She whispered. "StarClan please let him be okay."

"What was that?" She yelped again as the black and gray tabby faced her, his head cocked in musing, then an ear flicked and his expression grew much more serious. "Who's Maple?"

Fawnkit didn't want to answer, she really didn't, but she felt herself squeaking out the answer anyway. The gray tom's big yellow eyes sucking it out of her. "My brother. Maplekit's my brother."

"They have him don't they?" The cat went on.

"No!" Fawnkit shook her head vigorously, but stopped immediately to close her eyes and moan in pain. She kept her gaze on the ground, she didn't want to talk, she didn't want to look at his yellow eyes anymore. She would not tell them where Maplekit was. Maplekit was already in danger, he didn't need any more from these rouge cats.

The dark cat stood away from her and shared a look with the Leader, who also had heard her. The both of them turned to look at the shadows behind them. Fawnkit looked too.

"Jay!" The ginger cat called. A moment or so later, she saw the figure of a cat, but it refused to step out of the shadows, staying hidden as his tail jerked unsteadily back and forth behind him. "Follow the Clan cats, look for another kit."

"No." Fawnkit whimpered, but no one listened. The shadow cat nodded before the wind rushed passed her. All the time she had was to catch the color of gray before the rouge cat, Jay, had crossed the thunderpath and disappeared into the underbrush. She frowned, no wonder they sent him after Maplekit, she had never seen a cat run so fast.

Maplekit stood no chance.

"What are you going to do with the kit, Robin?" One of the cats asked. "It stinks of the forest."

The leader, Robin apparently, nodded his head. "I'm taking her to the Abbey." With those words declared, he reached down and very, very gently picked her up. Fawnkit felt the ground leave her paws, but this was nothing like Clawface's ride though the forest. This was gentler, careful and considerate. She hung limp, eyes downcast, she really hoped that this was the lesser of the two evils, she was stuck where she was. At least they didn't seem intent to killing her.

"They Abbey?" The other tom's voice went on. "Why? Do you honestly think she'd survive here? The forest to concrete walls?"

What's an Abby? Fawnkit licked her whiskers nervously.

"Cats of the forest have joined us before. Condor was a great Guard." Robin spoke around her fur, but he didn't lose his sound of authority.

"She's unlike Condor." The other cat went on. "She is small, wounded, disabled, and pitiful." The cat fixed his bright blue eyes on Fawnkit, and finally Fawnkit looked up to meet them. They were blue, blue like the sky. His eyes were like the sky and his fur was like the clouds, clouds at sunrise, gold and white. He would drop her from up high, drown out her sight with sky and clouds and sunshine as she fell, fell down, down, down. Robin was speaking, pulling her from her delirium.

"She was able to out run two adult cats, cross a thunderpath without hesitation, and still resist in the face of impossible odds. I think her capable, and I will give her a chance through the Abbey."

The sky cat sighed. "Though one might wounder why she was running from those cats." He meowed softly, more as an after thought. "Okay Robin, take your little kit, she will have to prove herself soon enough, then we'll see the truth of your judgment." The cat narrowed his eyes.

"That is all I ask Chief. A chance is all any cat needs." Robin turned his back to the group of cats. A few cats broke from the group and follow him, Fawnkit thought she could count five. The dark gray tabby was the closest, walking at Robin's side.

"'The truth of your judgment.' Hah!" He snorted. "If he questions your judgment what does he think of himself? He'd never be where he is without you. Great moon and dirt alike! You even named that little rat!"

"The taste of power washes the flavor of compassion off of one's tongue." Robin sighed.

Fawnkit was listening so intently on Robin's words that the flash of new colors in the corner of her eye caught her off-guard. She start paying attention to where they were going. The entourage was pacing down a uneven, gray path, one that looked even harder and rougher then the brown, forest path that Russetfur had chased her on. There was a thunderpath to their left, and several, tall, two-leg things to their right. She didn't know what to call the two-leg things, because they weren't like the two-leg nests she had been told about, with light colored dens and small closed in gardens. These were much taller, and most of them were red and rough looking. Everything here looked rough. Fawnkit's paws were already scrapped and stinging, and that was only from the dirt path, she cringed to think what it would be like to run on these gray paths.

Fawnkit choked, a scream aborted by a gasp. A monster raced past her, roaring down the thunderpath with a deafening howl. She closed her eyes as a gust of hot, gritty wind blasted her face.

Slowly, she opened her watery eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the sting of dirt from them. Then she noticed, much to her surprise and distress, that the ground was still moving underneath her. Robin hadn't stopped? That monster had ran right by them! Not even two fox lengths away! It could have crushed them! They were out in plain sight. All the thing would have had to do was turn a little and they would've been crow-food! But- but Robin hadn't stopped... She turned to look at Lark. He hadn't stopped either, he didn't even looked fazed. He just continued to talk to Robin. He even pulled in a new cat to joined the conversation, a tom with a deep brown pelt, a tom that also looked unaffected. Why weren't they scared? Their nonchalant behavior made Fawnkit nervous. If they weren't scared of the thunderpath, did that mean that they were friends with monsters? Were they going to throw her onto the thunderpath and have one of their monster friends run her over!? Maybe this 'Abbey' Robin had mentioned was actually the name of a monster!

Fawnkit squirmed in Robin's hold, but it only took seconds for her to tire. She had no energy left. Her ear throbbed, her paws hurt, her neck hurt, her heart hurt. Her heart hurt from being so scared for so long, her heart hurt from missing her siblings, her heart hurt because she knew that she let everyone down, her heart hurt because she could have tried harder to escape, to have run from Robin, to have run after Maplekit instead of toward the two-leg place. She just _hurt_. She sniffed softly, closing her eyes.

If Robin had noticed her weak struggles or sadness, he didn't react to it. He just kept on with his conversation. Fawnkit didn't put in the effort to listen in on their words. Too tired, she was just too tired. She turned her blank eyes on the path they walked.

They walked for a long while, well, Fawnkit thought it had been a long while. Two more monsters had zipped by them, stealing away Fawnkit's breath each time, and they had taken three turns, one of them them right across the thunderpath. Fawnkit had had to closed her eyes and hold her breath, trembling, praying that Abbey wouldn't come out and kill her.

Her paranoia rose higher and higher as they kept walking. Were they waiting for her to fall asleep? Just walk all night until she was exhausted enough to faint? Then what would they do with her? Leave her in the road and call Abbey? Ah! Would they feed her to dogs!? She swore she just heard a dog barking! Or maybe they were heading for that tall building over there! They'd climb it to the very top and throw her off! Just like the sky cat would have done! Or! Or! Would they feed her to rats! Smallear and Halftail had told her stories about rats and how they live in the two-leg place! Would they simply just stop and drop her? She'd be so lost! She'd never find her way home! She'd just run and hide and die of starvation!

Just as Fawnkit was beginning to hyperventilate in hysteria, Robin made one more turn, and suddenly there was grass underneath them. Fawnkit gasped. She hadn't smelt it over the stink of the gray paths and the frenzy of her mind, but there was no mistake, they were walking over grass. Fawnkit mustered up enough energy to give a weak giggle.

She raised her eyes from yellowish green grass she was hovering over to where they were going. Robin was climbing a slopping hill, and at the top, at the top was a huge two-leg place. It was gray, and looked different from everything she had seen on the walk here. It was very wide, with tall walls made of big flat stones. It wasn't flat looking though, it had these tall points, like pine trees made out of rock. One of them was so tall that Fawnkit was sure it scraped the sky.

As they got closer, Fawnkit could see some of the two-leg creation was crumbling. One of the walls on the far left was nothing but a pile of rubble with two tall walls on either side of it, as if they were standing vigil over their fallen brother. But Robin didn't walk towards the pile of rubble, so that couldn't be the entrance, or at least not the main one.

Fawnkit looked in front of her again, watching where Robin was going, and that was when she saw the main entrance. It was a huge arch-like opening cut out from the tall walls. Fawnkit stared in awe as they passed through it. On the inside of the arch, huge flat trees with dark wood showing were pulled back from the arch, like guards. Thin, silver thistle and bramble branches were weaved together in a pattern over the flat trees, making them look strong and even more like guardians. She marveling at the entrance, eyes wide with wounder, until her view was finally obscured by Robin's shoulder.

Then things went dark and Fawnkit stiffened. They had entered a tunnel, stone on every side of them. Fawnkit hissed out all of the air in her lungs as she pulled her legs and tail closer to her body. She didn't like this. She felt trapped. She could still see, there was light from both behind and in front of her, but it felt darker, even colder. What if the stone crumbled in? Just like that wall outside. What if it just crumbled in and crushed her!? What if it burying her and she was still alive? Was this what the cats were going to do with her? She let out a soft cry, no more then a rasp.

A soft purr caught her attention, giving her mind just enough of a distraction to suck in a breath of air. "It's okay, little soldier." Robin told her, his voice was a rumble, felt through both her scruff and where her back touched his chest. The tom lifting her higher, letting the wind whistle in her whiskers. There was wind, there was light, there was warmth; it wasn't never-ending, it wasn't a trap, if it was Robin would have to be buried too... "The corridors scare every cat the first time they set paw in them, but there is nothing to fear. Think of them like your Elders. They snap at you the first time you see them, maybe even a second, or third, time, but after that they welcome you. They tell you stories and put gossip in your ear. The corridors are safe, I promise. I've walked through them every day since I was very small."

Fawnkit nodded, gulping, Robin's voice was soothing. It made her feel like maybe, maybe, they wouldn't kill her. Fawnkit was still tensed, flinching at every step, but she managed to find her voice, her curiosity combating her fear. She spoke to Robin for the first time. "You say the- the _corridors_ are like Elders? Then how do they tell you stories?"

Robin purred a laugh and then they were out in moonlight again, the brightness flooding over them. Fawnkit found herself in some kind of mini-forest, that or a very large garden. There were several trees, lots of green grass and bushes, but a lot of stepping stones too, winding through the big garden like snakes and placed on every edge of the big, square mini-forest. There was also cats. A lot of cats. Fawnkit twitched her only ear, surprised. She and her rescuers had been alone the entire trip here, she had assumed that they lived alone too. The idea of them being a patrol for a Clan had never crossed her mind. Now that she thought about it, the size of the giant, two-leg, stone den should have been a give away. Actually, when Robin had chased out Russetfur and Boulder he had mentioned that they were on his Clan's territory. Um... Something Clan... She couldn't remember. Fawnkit felt a little irritated at herself and her mouse-brain-ness. She should have been paying better attention! Information about her new captors was very important if she wanted any chance at escape.

Robin carried her though the green grass of the garden while Fawnkit watched all the cats. A lot of them were sleeping, but some of them were awake, walking around, speaking in whispers, leaving and coming through the many doors at the edges of the garden. Fawnkit was sure that there was more cats in this place then in ThunderClan, twice as much, maybe even three times as much. She folded her ears back only to wince in pain. There was too many cats. She wouldn't be able to get out of here at all. They must have, like, fifty sentries! She hadn't seen any on the way in... they must just be that good at hiding and watching. She wasn't ever getting out of here was she?

"Eeep!" Fawnkit was set down unexpectedly, not surprising with the amount of attention she has been giving Robin. She was in a nest. It was just under a small bush, a tiny den sheltered and comfortable. The nest wasn't made out of moss, but it was still soft. That really surprised Fawnkit, everything two-legs make is hard and rough, did they really make soft things?

It was mostly made out of white, fluffy, cloud-looking stuff mixed with stripes of something else that looked as crinkly as fallen leaves, but was soft to the touch, and the whole thing was topped off with several small bird feathers. Fawnkit was about ready to say that this thing was even better then a moss bed, but then she looked over the full nest and notice a major problem. Thing nest was already occupied.

Fawnkit stared at the kit that was already snoozing away in her, no, _Robin's_, nest. She turned to look at Robin, a completely dumbfound look on her face. What in StarClan's name was going on? Did he really expect Fawnkit to share a nest with a stranger? Did he expect Fawnkit to sleep at all? Well he was wrong. She wasn't going to sleep and she wasn't going to say in this nest with another kit. The only kits she'd sleep with where her sibling. Oh, but she wasn't going to sleep! Yeah, no way would make herself so vulnerable. Nope, no sleep...

Robin lowered he's head, coming closer to her height, and whispered softly to her in his stupid, deep voice. "This is Mouse, he is my other kit." Fawnkit turned back to the sleeping gray cat. She suddenly felt weary, and the argument for a new nest was too much work. Wait, other kit? What did that mean? She opened her mouth to ask, but closed it. She didn't want to keep talking to Robin. He was smart, too smart, he might be able to trick her into sleeping. She gulped, she was barely keeping her eyes open as it was, StarClan forbid if he sang her a lullaby. She narrowed her eyes at him, hoping that she could burn her distrust and vexation right into his head. Robin didn't react, he just watched her patiently. Fawnkit looked away.

She stared down at the nest in distaste. Stupid, soft nest. Why couldn't it be made out of pine needles or something? Something she could complain about. Well she could always complain about the gray kit, all sprawled out and snoring so loud that Fawnkit was sure that he was actually giving battle cries. She huffed, but then couldn't help a giggled. He looked so silly! All out on his back, belly up with his paws stretched out next to his sides and one hindpaw tilled up on the nest. She suddenly felt the urge to poke him right in the stomach, but refrained, it probability wasn't a good idea to wake him up.

This Mouse kit was very loud and silly. She couldn't possibly sleep with him around, right? Fawnkit looked down at the nest. Her paws did hurt, and her legs were shaky like leaves, it couldn't hurt to lay down right? No, it couldn't hurt, in fact it might even trick the other cats into thinking that she was asleep.

She circled the nest once, clearing a little, comfortable spot for her to lie down, then let her legs give out and nuzzled into the weird, white softness of the nest. She let her body relax, slowly letting out the tension until it ached, then faded into a comfortable, light soreness.

Her peace last all of two moments. A paw stretched out to poked her side. She could hear the gray kit stirring.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice heavy with sleep. He pushed at her again with his hindpaw when she didn't answer quickly enough.

"Stop." She growled. He didn't. He kicked her with his other back paw and tried to push her out of the nest. Fawnkit hissed and tensed, intent on keeping her spot. "Stop." She repeated, louder this time.

"Who're you?" He slurred again.

"She's your sister Mouse." Robin's comforting voice spoke. Fawnkit looked up at the cat, she had forgotten he was there. Idly she wondered how many times one cat can come to her rescue in one night. There was that 'sister' and 'my other kit' thing again. What did that mean? What was he talking about? "Go back to sleep Mouse." Robin rested his tail on Mouse's belly.

Mouse hummed, whispered an okay, and fell back asleep. Fawnkit rolled her eyes, obviously they were going to get along great, she could already tell. Suddenly, Robin lick the top of her head, the action caught her by surprise, causing her head to bob and eyes to blink, only she couldn't get her eyelids back open again. What a dirty... dirty trick. Hmm... She needed to... to what? Open her eyes. Eyes? Why did she want to open her eyes again? The licks continued, soothing, as he groomed her.

"Rest now. You'll get your answers in the morning." Robin chuckled lightly. "As well as get that ear looked at."

Fawnkit fell asleep in a feign nest with a new 'brother' in a huge stone den to the sound of her savior's purrs.


End file.
